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Letters to the Editor

Apr 17 2013 12:01 am

Comparisons

Elizabeth Colbert Busch represents a vote for the policies of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. She is exactly what we don’t need in Washington. The current administration’s policies involve big spending. Republicans must unite following the “family feud” and focus on Elizabeth Colbert Busch whose beliefs have nothing in common with ours. Her loyalty is with the Democratic Party and the current administration.

Mark Sanford represented South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District from 1995 until 2001. He stuck to his self-prescribed promise to step down after three terms. He went on to be South Carolina’s governor for two terms from 2003 until 2011. Mark has gone through some life changes. God has forgiven him, and that’s good enough for me.

There is still much work to be done in Washington. Mark Sanford was ranked as the No. 1 fiscal conservative in all of Congress by Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers Union. He returned $250,000 in unspent office funds to the U.S. Treasury each year.

Mark Sanford has a proven record for being the most fiscally conservative governor in America. He was a staunch supporter of spending restraint and pro-growth tax reforms. The Sanford administration eliminated almost $1 billion in deficit and debt. Mark Sanford is the person we should send to Washington.

Shirley Rabens

Fieldstone Circle

Charleston

School cameras I would like to see cameras in schools. Beyond identifying rogue, abusive teachers, we may actually see how students behave in the classroom and on school grounds as well. It might shine some light on why our test scores ar

Susan Clark

Foster Street

Charleston

Guns for all

Two prosecutors are shot in Texas, and now prosecutors all over are crying for and being provided armed protection.

Twenty little children are shot in Connecticut, but many schools, controlled by those who propose to know what’s best for us, won’t even entertain the notion of providing the same level of protection to the most defenseless among us.

The hypocrisy of government officials and wealthy celebrities whose hired gunmen stand ready to shoot anyone perceived to be a threat to their bosses stinks to high heaven, considering their vociferous objection to us working class Americans and our children being able to have the same level of protection.

I don’t know what genius decided that the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights was there to protect people’s right to hunt or shoot for sport.

How can anyone with a modicum of intelligence seriously believe that the Framers who were fighting a world power in order to gain an enduring freedom were concerned about hunting privileges?

Every living creature has an inherent desire to defend and preserve its life and freedom, and we lowly humans are no exception.

We are still relatively free because the common man has a way to defend against governmental oppression.

Governments that are permitted to disarm their citizens invariably end up terrorizing their citizens. Want to see the blueprint for that scenario?

Look no further than North Korea, Cuba and Iran, for starters.

Bill Reed III

Bowfin Drive

Moncks Corner

Biden’s waste

On March 29 a Post and Courier editorial observed that Vice President Joe Biden’s lodging was not cheap. A letter to the editor from a concerned citizen listed wasteful government spending and listed Biden’s two-night hotel costs ($459,388.65 in London and $585,000.50 in Paris). The Post and Courier correctly pointed out that these costs were not in high season.

Let’s look at the numbers as any prudent business person would and ask if we got taken. The per room cost, based upon 136 rooms, calculates as follows per night: London $3,377.86, in Paris $4,301.47. As a business person, I traveled the United States as well as internationally and never experienced per diem costs that could rival these outrageous numbers.

If an expense sheet ever crossed my desk with such numbers the employee would be asked to justify them. If the answer was not to my satisfaction, I would place the employee on notice and would begin looking for a replacement. Poor judgment is not a winning formula in any business, including the U.S. government.

Needless to say, these bills were paid with our tax dollars. Those who purport to advocate for the middle class continue to lead the good life at the top end of the 1 percent that is demonized by this administration. Will it ever end?

Ed Gilligan

Marsh Hawk Lane

Kiawah Island

No problem

A decision was made by the Supreme Court of South Carolina to allow 50 houses to be built on Captain Sam’s Spit. This decision was followed by a municipal ordinance that no longer allows leashed dogs in the area.

The question here is why 50 houses can be built, but dogs on leashes are no longer permitted. The answer: Dogs disturb the endangered plover.

Stop the bashing

Many people may be unaware that chiropractors, who were bashed in a recent article in The Post and Courier, are licensed by the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) as doctors of chiropractic, DC or physicians.

According to the LLR, chiropractors deal with the relationship between the nervous system and the spinal column and the role of this relationship in the restoration and maintenance of the health of the body without the use of drugs or surgery.

Where is the research, you ask? Chiropractors treat less than 10 percent of the population in the United States, so one wouldn’t think that those who bash DC’s are doing so out of concern about competition for health care dollars.

The bashing is generally driven by a lack of scientific evidence supporting the practice of chiropractic. Since chiropractic isn’t funded by the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry, it doesn’t have the resources to research all of the conditions that respond favorably to chiropractic adjustments.

As a licensed chiropractic physician in South Carolina since 1986, I can attest to the many conditions, other than back pain, that have responded to chiropractic adjustments.

So why are chiropractors still around after 100 years of being labeled as “quackerprackers”? Ask the patient who has had five sinus surgeries or someone who has received multiple rounds of antibiotics for persistent ear infections, another who takes numerous medications and has holes drilled in his head trying to alleviate headaches, one on an array of medications for gastrointestinal issues or another on pain management for failed back surgery, and you will begin to get a picture of why patients will try anything for relief.

Can chiropractors cure everything? Of course not, but the word is out that a chiropractic adjustment influences the nervous system, promotes healing throughout the body and is effective for conditions other than just back pain.

Norman Bishop, DC

Trident Chiropractic

University Boulevard

North Charleston

Christian beliefs

I read with amusement an April 3 letter where the writer stated his opinion of Christians. Unfortunately, as with many atheists, he simply lacks knowledge and understanding of Christian beliefs.

Christians know that their “living a moral life” will not get them into Heaven, or help them avoid “eternal hellfire.”

Anyone can live a moral life, and many non-believers do; that is very true. What Christians have is grace, given by God, which allows them to “step out of line,” repent and be forgiven. All they need to do is recognize and accept it. It also humbles them and gives them a grateful, giving heart which in turn is reflected in “living a moral life.”

I have certainly not wasted a single Sunday morning in church. Worship is uplifting, comforting, joyous and fulfilling and has provided me with a lifetime of thinking of others, putting them first, contributing time and money to many altruistic causes and living a full, happy life devoted to my family and others.

I have also been encouraged to engage in “rational thought” a time or two. (This was a must when I earned college and post-graduate degrees, and did not conflict with my faith.) Actually, it is that rational thought that led me back to the God I learned about as a child.

I would invite the letter writer to visit any other Christian church of your choice. (Please spend more than one Sunday there. It is difficult to learn it all in one sitting.)

When you learn the doctrines and beliefs of Christianity, I truly believe your opinion will change, and you will not find that you have wasted your Sunday. Please feel free to engage in “rational thought” while you are there.

Joan Naugle

Spring Street.

Summerville

Different district

Last time I voted (presidential election), I was in Congressional District No.1. That is what is listed on my voting card, the last one I received, which any normal person would assume is the current one.

I was appalled to find out on primary day that I had been disenfranchised in the District 1 special election by a shift in District 6 without any notification at all.

A note of outrage to a county election official produced only a junior-high-school level lecture on the apportionment process, but no explanation of how and why my vote was taken away from me. When I wrote to question again, I received no response.

My neighbors and I are appalled that our voices and our votes are not allowed to be heard due to reasons which we apparently are not qualified to hear.

Susan Flaster

Chapel Street

Charleston

Pay off the debt

The Charleston County School District successfully convinced a majority of voters a few years ago that they were in a desperate financial situation and critically needed us to approve a 1 percent sales tax to fund earthquake upgrades and other physical improvements.

At one point there was an option being discussed just to fund the earthquake improvements, but the citizenry was convinced that there were other critical, unfunded needs.

Now the school board may be asked to consider giving up $63 million to support a developer’s tax increment financing (TIF) district on Johns Island?

How could any school board member in good conscience vote to give up $63 million after just coming to the voters and asking for a special sales tax to fund critical needs?

Why would they have done so if they had $63 million available?

If the $63 million is available to fund a TIF, how about using it to pay down school district debt that was issued when the school improvements were made?

Pay off that debt, be just like a homeowner who pays a little extra on his mortgage payment to get out of debt more quickly.

Ralph Earhart

Holton Place

Charleston

Public hearings

If the members of Charleston County Council truly represent the citizens, they should hold public hearings on the TIF before voting on behalf of these citizens.

To do otherwise disenfranchises the voters and spends $84.5 million of their tax dollars without representation.

Glenda L. Miller

Pelican Watch

Seabrook Island

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